A 10-hectare bamboo village and ecological zone preserving hundreds of species of bamboo located in Binh Duong Province for both entertain and educate tourists.
Upon entering the “Phu An Bamboo Museum and Conservation Village” in Ben Cat District’s Phu An Commune next to Ho Chi Minh City, visitors will sense an atmosphere of serenity. Hidden amid tall, green bamboo trunks growing straight and true are small hills dotted with flowers of various colors. Birds chirp in the sky, boulders and beehive-shaped rocks lie scattered under the shadowy canopies, and in this setting, tourists can have a rest to savor the rustic, tranquil feeling.
As the biggest of its sort in Southeast Asia, the village-come-conservation zone boasts over 1,500 bamboo clumps of 17 genera of the world’s roughly 100 existent genera, with 300 different species including rare, precious ones like square bamboo, golden bamboo and cylinder bamboo, all with name plates giving their scientific names, local names, and dates of collection.
What’s special is that bamboos endemic to Viet Nam are grouped together into their respective “Mekong River Delta,” “Central Highlands,” “Southeastern Region” and “Northern Region” categories.
In the “Mekong River Delta” category, a platform made of beehive rocks offers tourists a resting place in the evening to enjoy the moon and stars or simply listen to frogs and toads’ songs, creating a perfectly idyllic scene. In addition, narrow bamboo bridges and boats capturing the image of a rural southern Viet Nam are ready to transport passengers into the heart of the area, dubbed the “Bamboo Labyrinth.”
Before entering this labyrinth, tourists will first be able to muse over a giant, natural “map” of Viet Nam made up of vegetation and a plant called arachis pintoi. Each Vietnamese region on the “map” is made of hills and of trees endemic to that region. The “Mekong River Delta” section is a green-yellow plant cover segmented by small tunnels representing the nine tributaries of the Mekong River flowing out into the sea.
Once inside, stranger and stranger bamboo appears. For a break, visitors can contemplate the Rach Chua River as it majestically winds its way along, after being guided along “eco-roads” or “village roads” marked by fresh breezes absolutely untainted by city pollution and smog.
The village also displays numerous bamboo-made products and boasts a bamboo museum replete with bamboo musical instruments in addition to a relaxation area and an outdoor theater.
